Reiteration
by Smoking Panda
Summary: Oneshot. Sasuke's life in sucession. No pairings.


This story has been pending for a while. I was intending it to come out completely opposite from the way it ended. Please excuse the spelling errors. One-shot, no continuation, no pairings, just a day in the life of Sasuke. Please excuse the spelling errors.

Disclaimer: Sasuke is not mine. But this piece is.

* * *

**_Reiteration _**

I suppose I was thrashing so wildly, that I shook myself awake. I threw myself from the mattress beneath and a cry erupted from my throat like a dying animal. My body hit the floor with an ungraceful thump and the hardwood stung my perspiring skin.

In a cold sweat, with my Sharingan half activated, a second sight flickering in and out of focus, I lay there shaking and whimpering, gasping for a single clear breath. Waves of nausea expelled the contents of my stomach and the horrid, acidic taste in my mouth gave my senses a jolt. Finally awake and aware of my stature, I groaned.

_Another nightmare. _

Eventually, I pulled myself off the floor and into the bathroom. Draping a towel over my rejected dinner, I tried to concentrate on anything but the images floating through my head. However, the dead bodies littered around the Uchiha complex plagued my mind and Itachi's horrible presence lingered deep within my consciousness. Ever so bothered by this notion, I let my fingers run through my sweat-soaked hair and dragged my nails into my scalp.

What was wrong with my mind...

With spinning red wheels in my eyes, I turned the tap so that the water rushing from the shower head steamed and hissed furiously as it hit the cool tiles. My hand passed under the spray, and my hand twitched from the unexpected heat.

Pulling at the boxers I so easily threw on before my dream time escapade, I untangled the treacherous piece of cloth from my legs and tossed them to the side. Stepping under the vicious stream of water, my skin prickled and seared red. The near-boiling water left a stinging aftermath, like the familiar stab of a hundred senbon, on my pale skin.

_The nightmares would never end...Not as long as he stayed alive...The pain he inflicted on me would never end...Unless I killed him. And to kill him, I need to get stronger. _

This mantra repeated in my mind, like some broken record, and I slowly scrubbed away the impending fear and clouded memories that had taken hostage my mind as an avenger. The avenger. Of the Uchiha clan.

I pulled the shower door open and wrapped a towel around my waist. The steam floated around my face and settled on the mirror over the sink. The soaked tendrils of hair dangled over my eyes and I lifted them out of my face, only to find Itachi's reflection staring back at me.

I started, slipping on the wet tiled floor, and swiftly met my fate. It seemed the floor exploded against the back of my head. My vision stirred with the thousand little birds at the corners of my sight and an awful eruption of pain left me clawing at the wet mass of black, tangled locks,

Calming myself once again, I fingered my dripping hair and wondered how I had let it grow so long. Pulling it behind my head, I stood, ignoring the pain in my backside, and stepped up to the mirror once again.

My unrecognizable face stared back at me, glaring with the intensity of a thousand bolts of lightning, flickering red with fire deep within my pupils. Skin as pale as moonbeams glowed with the heat of the bathroom and lips were quivering with some unseen cold. It was my face. My own face. The one I had owned my entire life.

It was _not_ Itachi's.

Running as quickly as I could to my nightstand in naught but my own skin, I grabbed a kunai, pulled back the lengths of my shadowy mane, and let them fall to the ground.

Tossing yet another towel upon the floor over the remains of my hair, I shook my head like an wet dog, freeing the last few strand from the entangled mess of hair upon my head. I dressed myself in the cleanest clothes available, and after furiously winding the wraps on my legs, I grabbed the same kunai, damp and dappled with black hairs, and ran out into the twilight sky to the practice grounds.

I left when the kunai had finally chipped in a frenzied throw towards a boulder.

Arriving at the bridge later that morning proved to be a waste of my time.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun..."

Sakura's voice trailed off in obvious shock. It was not surprising to me. For her to dote upon my presence was plenty annoying. If she began anything about my obvious lack of six inches of hair...I would not forgive her.

"You cut..."

I briskly walked passed her reddening face, her tongue tumbling over words she wasn't sure of.

"We wondered why you grew it out, but it looked nice. And now that you cut it, it looks very nice..."

She always found some way to compliment me, even though I knew my hair was not styled to the finesse of a beautician, but more ruggedly cut and uneven. Before it had been lengthy, and black. Deathly beautiful, it had become, reminding me too much of the even deadlier sharer of the same dark strands. As it now fell maybe three inches from my scalp, I could felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders and settling into a steady pile on the floor as I shreded the longer tendrils to pieces.

I sighed and pulled myself onto the bridge rail to wait for Kakashi. I glared at the ground, my shabby fringe tickling my eyelashes. Blinking, I looked up, only to catch Sakura's eye for a brief moment before returning to my previous state, as she nervously giggled into oblivion and fiddled with her own pink curls.

She is stupid. Not in general, Sakura by all means has logic that I may never posess. Her genjutsu skills rival my own, and as much more chakra control. But she is stupid for loving me so helplessly... I have risked myself to save her, yes, but I have also thrown myself into danger to protect Naruto, more than I can count.

I have been all I can to her, because it is a ninja's duty to protect their comrades and care for them in a way that never goes beyond a platonic relationship. That is what is right. And as long as I am still learning and living in Konoha, I must follow these laws, as much as it irks me to do so. I already have gained necessary skills to be a shinobi, but not any for me to be able to beat Itachi...

_I am eons away from being at his level. _

Sometimes I wish I could find a faster, shorter way to become more powerful than him. But I can find no other safe path that does not lead to me becoming just like him. I could kill, but in the end, I have choosen a path like Itachi's, slaughtering any obstacles in my path to receive a bittersweet reward. And even if I do destroy lives to learn and escape the village, how will I know that my plans will successfully kill him? I don't. So I may as well sit and learn from another Sharingan user and delve into my own family's scrolls (as well as borrowing some; not stealing, borrowing) to improve my knowledge.

But back to the girl...

The thing that gets me is the fact that Sakura fawns over someone who is not as strong as he wishes to be, cares little for her feelings, and is by no means sane. When at the same time, there are two other boys rivaling for her attention that she fixates on myself. It is mildly entertaining to know that she adores me and not them.

"OHAYO SAKURA-CHAN!"

Still averting my eyes of Sakura's longing gaze, I hear Naruto gallop along the wooden planks and stop in front of the enamored girl.

"You're looking as great as ever-"

"Shove off Naruto. I'm not interested"

I imagined Naruto's previous wide grin twisting into a formidable frown. It was not an uncommon sight, and I almost feel sorry for him. I say 'almost' because of Naruto's next statement.

"Well, Sasuke, going for the shaved duck look, I see."

I must say, it is refreshing to receive some criticism from Naruto. Its a nice change from all the piteous stares of the elderly and the blindly appreciative compliments I get daily from the townspeople. No girl in the village of the hidden leaf has ever told me that I am not as appealing as the rest of the world thinks that I am. No hate mail. No insults for being so pretty boy-ish. Naruto was the coffee that steers me from letting myself think that what they say is true. I am not that great and this yellow haired annoyance reminds me so.

But it still pissed me off.

"Shut up, dobe"

He didn't treat me like a victim of some horrible incident. If he knew at all, I doubt his feelings towards me would change, because, as far as I know, he is an orphan. Like me.

Catching that tidbit of information from Sakura on the first day of genin training was, in a word, intriguing.

But still, after so many missions, I have failed to delve any further into the enigma that is Naruto Uzumaki. I have other things to worry about at the moment.

Naruto jeered at my hair, Sakura slapped him around for a bit, and before I knew it, it was around noon and Kakashi still hadn't shown up.

"He should be here any minute now..." Sakura grumbles into her folded arm. The sun is shrouded by grey clouds and the faint shadow of Naruto's pacing figure follows him across the planks of the bridge. He looked frustrated and made incoherent grunts every few seconds. I considered mentioning the fact that he would turn into a pig if he kept making sounds like one, but my lack of energy prevented me from doing so. I couldn't provoke Naruto now, because although I hate to admit it, once I get him started he refuses to admit defeat until I have him face down in the mud. And as much as that mental image pleased me, after the night I had had, I was not up to it.

Not today.

A puff of smoke, two yells, and a pathetic excuse later, and Kakashi presented us with absolutely nothing but a smile beneath his mask

"We waited all morning for you to just say that we don't have any missions!" Naruto dove at the teacher lounging on the bridge's rail, but the ever elusive sensei caught him around the waist and he fell ungracefully to the ground.

Sakura seemed twisted with anger, confusion, and defeat. She settled with a few high pitched whines, a fiery glare, and an obvious dent in the bridges railing from a well-placed punch.

I watched the latter occur, and then turned towards the path back to my apartment.

The town, just barely functioning when I stepped out of my home in the morning, was now bustling with people. Women laden down with shopping bags waddled from store to store and the merchants called out to them to inspect their products. Serious looking men rushed through the crowds of people in front of displays and students skipping the academy ran into them as they chased a ball down the road.

I made my way through the throng of people as best as I could and slipped away into a nearby alley and the lively sounds from the streets became muffled, as if I was underwater. The sunlight was blocked by the buildings, slathered with peeling posters. I just needed to get home quick.

Maneuvering through the back alleys, I found the near end of the marketplace and escaped into the wooded area behind what seemed to be the ramen shop. I took less then three steps across the grass when I felt a familiar presence behind me.

"You seem to be in a hurry..." Kakashi started.

"How long have you been following me?"

"Well, you didn't stay long enough to hear me say that we won't be meeting for the rest of the week, and Sakura wanted to ask you to lunch, and Naruto seemed to be intent on making fun of you..."

He paused.

"By the way, nice haircut."

On any other day, I would have let this comment slide, or at least file it somewhere in my mind for later retribution, but today, obviously, I was not logically thinking. So, I spun around and send three shruiken at Kakashi, completely forgetting the fact that this man was a jounin, and run towards him with a dull kunai in hand.

Long story short, the three shuriken were flung into a tree behind me, the kunai was in Kakashi's hand, and I was flung to the ground a good ten feet from where I began.

Kakashi's one blue eye lazily looked me over.

"You're stressed."

Still shaking from the impact, I pulled myself to my feet and went to retrieve my shuriken.

"You should be careful. If I was a civilian, and you flung a hoard of weapons at me, I'd get you into some trouble

I sent him a glare that was only half focused, and walked back towards him. I stood in front of him expecting my kunai, but he just stared back at me, swinging it on his finger as if it was his own.

He glanced at my hair. "You do that yourself?"

My eyes narrowed and I growled an affirmative. My hand snatched out towards the spinning weapon, but he pulled back and caught the knife in his palm.

I sighed and let my outstretched hand fall back at my side. My gaze fell to the ground beneath my feet.

"It's not sharp. Then it seems you've been working hard, Sasuke."

I could feel his concerned gaze. I was surprised that he was actually tracking me down in the first place. Looking up, I found his singular eye boring into me.

"Be careful," he repeated. "Eat something. And go get some rest."

Kakahsi offered me the kunai, and I took it by the handle before he disappeared in a whirlwind of leaves, leaving me alone in the clearing.

My feet seemed to be functioning on their own, because before I knew it, I had shut the blinds and plowed into the sheets of my bed.

When sleep comes easy, one should be wary.

I suppose I was makingso much noise, whimpering and crying out in pain so loudly, that I awoke myself from bloody nightmare I was trapped in.

Wiping a bit of drool from my mouth I sat up and my body screamed, protesting the fact that I had fallen asleep twisted into the covers of my bed like some strangled butterfly, all the more still in my ninja garb.

I rolled to the side of the bed, still entrapped in the mass of sheets and swung my legs off the side. I fought off the snakes of sheets wrapped around me, suffocating me, and flung them off somewhere into the shadows.

My body began to cooperate with me, and I slowly cleaned up the mess I had left this morning, and threw out the soiled towls and drifting little bits of hair. It seemed that the sun was setting, because through the blinds that covered my windows, tiny slits of orange light burst through, enabling me to see into the cavernous apartment that I lived in.

In an instant, my stomach protested loudly to the lack of food, and although I did not want to have to deal with the feeling of food slipping down my throat, I needed to replenish my strength somehow.

In the kitchen I hovered over the sink and watched my glass fill itself with water from the tap. Dragging myself to the refridgerator, I then snatched a some leftover curry from the night before.

I spooned the curry into my pained stomach and drained the water in seconds. Even with the sharp tang of the freezing curry in my mouth, I couldn't wipe the image of my mother out of my mind.

She would always be there, haunting me with her sweet, nurturing smile. Always whispering about my father and what sort of secrets they shared. Cooking and cleaning in the kitchen, watching with tentitive eyes in the back of her head as the rest of the family spoke.

She would always be there next to father, with her throat slit and blood undulating onto the wooden floor into the shadows...Her eyes glinting like small pearls through the dark hair fanned out over her lifeless face...

_Unless..._

A familiar pain filled my chest, a gaping hole that threated to collaspse my entire body, leaving only the empty surrounding me now. A pain that neither hurt like the sting of a slap or the slash of a knife, but as if pressure had built up outside of my body and pressed against me, making me want to shrink, and curl up into a little ball and fade away into nothing. Betrayal, loss, and an utter feeling of helplessness.

This pain would always be there...

_Unless I killed him. _

Forcing my body to straighten, I took a careful step onto the cold linolueom. Knowing that I had balance, I threw my glass into the sink. Upon hearing its shatter, I staked over to the doorway, secured my shoes and my shuriken pouch, and opened the door to the young night. Away to the traning flields I went, and I only returned when the shuriken were too far embedded in the targets for me to retrieve them.

**_End_**

* * *

****

Review if you like. I'm really not sure how I feel about this one.

_Panda-chan_


End file.
